Turbofan gas turbine engines include a forwardly located, high speed rotary fan which receives, compresses, and discharges the primary air flow of the gas turbine engine to produce power, either in the form of thrust for an aircraft or to produce rotary mechanical power. Disposed immediately downstream of the fan is a fan stator assembly comprising a plurality of stator vanes spanning the duct carrying the compressed air flow from the fan. The stator vanes operate to redirect the direction and amount of swirl imparted to the compressed air such that if is in proper swirl orientation for the next stage of engine operation and/or to straighten bypass airflow. Normally the following stage is the first stage of a high pressure compressor. It is important that the mass of such a stator vane assembly be minimized to minimize overall weight of the engine, yet be tolerant of foreign object damage which may occur when foreign objects are carried through the fan in the inlet air flow.
Typically, the complexity of such a fan stator assembly requires very lengthy assembly time due to the number of components. For example, sixty to eighty stator vanes are not uncommon for such a fan stator assembly. Complexity and the length of time for assembly directly contributes to the overall cost of the engine. Repair and overhaul of typical stator assemblies cannot be accomplished except at the site of original manufacture.